Grandmother seeks maintenance and share in family pension from granddaughter and daughter-in-law; loses case in Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court recently ruled that a grandmother cannot file a case against her granddaughter and son’s widow demanding maintenance and a share of the widow’s family pension, especially when her granddaughter is a college student and she (grandmother) has already got Rs 12 lakh from her late son’s employer, in addition to receiving a pension from her own employer.

Let’s know the case in detail. Smt Thankamma (83) is a former employee of the Kerala Government Fisheries Department. She gets pension after her retirement. Her husband was a senior officer in the Fisheries Department, and he, too, gets a pension. Now, she lives in her home in Kadavanthra, Kochi.

Smt Thankamma’s son (T. Raj Kumar) passed away while he was serving as a Senior Superintendent with the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). He is survived by his daughter and wife. Kumar’s wife gets widow family pension from KSEB, and his daughter is pursuing her college education with a loan from Union Bank of India.


Moreover, Smt Thankamma (grandmother) was paid about Rs 12 lakh from the death benefits payable to her son Kumar, which is almost one-third of the total benefits, excluding the PF portion. The remaining money was paid to his wife.

Smt Thankamma also demanded Rs 15,000 monthly maintenance and a share of the widow family pension. So, she filed a court case. On August 18, 2026, she lost her case in the Kerala High Court.

Also read: Widow gets husband’s provident fund and gratuity but loses family pension due to a paperwork mistake

Why did grandmother lose the case in Kerala High Court?

Justice Harisankar V. Menon of the Kerala High Court heard this case.

Grandmother has not disputed that she got Rs 12 lakh from KSEB

The Kerala High Court has observed that after Smt Thankamma’s son’s death, the service benefits were proposed to be disbursed to his wife and daughter. However, at that point of time, Smt Thankamma, in her capacity as the mother of the deceased, raised a claim, and on that basis, the employer, KSEB, has paid an amount of Rs 12.28 lakh directly to her herein. This payment is also not disputed by her.

Also read: Divorced daughter eligible for father’s pension if dependency proven, rules high court

Grandmother can’t expect college going granddaughter to maintain her

The Kerala High Court said that as per the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, ‘children’ are defined under Section 2(a) and Section 2(g) defines the term ‘relative’.

Under Section 2(a), daughter-in-law is not covered, however Smt Thankamma’s advocate argued that her grandaughter falls under the definition of “children” as well as “relative”, and therefore the granddaughter is expected to maintain her.

Justice Harisankar V. Menon of Kerala High Court said that he is at loss to understand the basis of such a contention since admittedly the 2nd respondent (granddaughter) is only a student.

The Kerala High Court said that the grandmother is not expected to raise such unreasonable demands, especially when it is pointed out in the counter affidavit filed by her son’s widow and granddaughter that she is a student who is undergoing studies after obtaining credit facilities from the Union Bank of India.

Grandmother can’t claim widow’s family pension since senior citizens’ act has no such provision

The Kerala High Court said that in their opinion, under the provisions of the Senior Citizens law, Smt Thankamma (grandmother) is not at all entitled to seek for disbursement of the family pension that is being paid to her son’s widow.

The Kerala High Court said: “This is not visualized with reference to the provisions of the Act. If the petitioner (grandmother) has such a case, her remedy lies elsewhere.”

With these observations, the Kerala High Court rejected Smt Thankamma’s appeals (both Rs 15,000 maintenance and widow family pension)